Whether we are talking about art, architecture, science, music, or food, every meaningful advancement begins with someone willing to see the world differently. Before an idea becomes accepted, celebrated, or mainstream, it almost always spends time on the fringe, viewed as unconventional or simply ahead of its time.
Perhaps that is why the French gave us the term avant garde. Meaning "vanguard," it describes those who move beyond convention by exploring new ideas and challenging accepted thinking. The dictionary defines avant garde as a person, group, or style that is ahead of its time in technique, subject matter, or application. What the definition does not tell you is that being ahead of your time is rarely comfortable. The avant garde has never been about fitting in. It has always been about having the courage to think differently.
I had the privilege of speaking about this very topic, the importance of being avant garde, at Chef JP McMahon's thought-provoking symposium, Food on the Edge, in Galway, Ireland, in 2016. Looking back a decade later, I remain just as fascinated by forward thinkers and the courage it takes to be a visionary. That message remains just as relevant today as it was then. We live in a world that is changing faster than ever, and our industries need people who are willing to think beyond what is familiar, challenge convention, and remain curious enough to imagine what comes next. Be comfortable to be uncomfortable to allow change and growth.
History is filled with avant garde thinkers who refused to accept that the conventional way was the only way. Their ideas were often questioned in the beginning, only to become the very standards we celebrate today. Without people willing to challenge accepted thinking, there would be no innovation, no progress, and no evolution. Someone has to imagine a different way long before the rest of us understand why it matters.
A Potato Is Never Just a Potato
In the culinary world, this way of thinking often begins with something remarkably simple.
Take a potato.
To most people, a potato is simply a potato. To an avant garde thinker, it becomes an adventure. An obsession. A study of what it could become. It may be steamed, roasted, dehydrated, fermented, cooked sous vide, transformed into vegetable ash, or whipped into a purée so delicate that it becomes something entirely unexpected. The ingredient itself has not changed. What has changed is the imagination, creativity, and skill applied to it. An avant garde thinker does not see food for what it is. They see food for what it could become.
No one demonstrated this better than Chef Joël Robuchon. He took one of the world's humblest ingredients and elevated it into his legendary pommes purée, proving that extraordinary experiences rarely begin with extraordinary ingredients. They begin with extraordinary curiosity, discipline, and an unwavering pursuit of perfection. The potato was never the innovation. The thinking behind it was.
That, to me, is the hallmark of an avant garde thinker. They refuse to accept that something has reached its greatest potential simply because that is how it has always been done.
The Evolution of an Idea
The culinary world has experienced this pattern repeatedly, but perhaps no example illustrates it better than sous vide.
The concept of cooking food in a sealed environment at a carefully controlled temperature can be traced back to 1799, when a physicist first explored the theory. It was an intriguing concept, but one that remained largely theoretical for well over a century. It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that French food scientist Bruno Goussault refined the technique into a practical culinary application, demonstrating how precise temperature control could dramatically improve consistency, texture, and quality.
Even then, the idea was far from universally accepted. Many chefs questioned the technique. Others dismissed it as unnecessary or reduced it to nothing more than "boil in the bag." It remained an unconventional approach embraced by only a small group of chefs who were willing to look beyond tradition and explore what the method could achieve.
Fast forward to today, and sous vide has become one of the most respected techniques in modern cuisine. Professional kitchens around the world rely on it every day for its precision, consistency, and ability to produce exceptional results. What once seemed unimaginable only a few decades ago has now become common practice. Home cooks routinely own immersion circulators, culinary schools teach the technique, and it has become a standard method in kitchens around the world.
That is the power of the avant garde. An idea once viewed as unconventional eventually became so widely accepted that many people no longer remember it was ever considered radical. Innovation rarely happens overnight. Sometimes it takes decades before the rest of the world catches up to an idea that once seemed impossible.
Beyond the Kitchen
This pattern is not unique to food. Every creative discipline has experienced its own moments of resistance before acceptance because creativity has never been about following the crowd. It has always been about having the courage to challenge accepted thinking.
When the Impressionists first exhibited their work in the 1870s, the public and the artistic establishment were scandalized. Grass was supposed to be green. Haystacks were supposed to be yellow. Instead, artists such as Claude Monet painted light, atmosphere, and emotion. Colour became an interpretation rather than a rigid rule. Critics dismissed their work because it challenged everything people believed painting should be. Today, Impressionism is regarded as one of the most influential movements in modern art. The movement did not change. Our understanding of it did. Those paintings, those movements, have inspired far beyond the canvas and onto the plate.
Whether it is a chef looking at a potato, an artist looking at a landscape, a musician challenging convention, or a scientist questioning accepted theory, the pattern is always the same. Progress begins with someone willing to think differently. The avant garde has never been about being different for the sake of being different. It has always been about having the courage to challenge convention, remain curious, and imagine possibilities that others have yet to see.
The Courage to Think Differently
As chefs, artists, and creators, I believe we have a responsibility to be forward thinkers. Not because every new idea will succeed, but because every meaningful advancement begins with someone willing to ask, "What if?"
Creativity has never been a destination. It is a way of seeing the world. It asks us to look beyond what already exists and imagine what could exist. It challenges us to remain students of our craft, to stay curious, to question accepted practices, and to embrace the possibility that there may always be a better way.
The greatest breakthroughs rarely happen because someone followed the rules perfectly. They happen because someone was willing to question the rules, test an idea, and trust their instincts long before anyone else understood the vision. Some ideas will fail. Others will evolve into something entirely different. That is not failure. That is the creative process.
Looking back at my presentation at Food on the Edge in Galway in 2016, I realize my belief in the importance of being avant garde has only grown stronger. In a world that continues to change at an extraordinary pace, we need more people willing to think ahead, to embrace uncertainty, and to pursue ideas that may not yet make sense to everyone else.
The next time you encounter an idea that feels unconventional, whether in food, art, business, or life, resist the temptation to dismiss it too quickly. History reminds us that many of the world's greatest innovations began as ideas that seemed improbable, impractical, or simply ahead of their time.
After all, every great innovation begins as an unpopular opinion.
@ChefLiana